Local aviation industry-led destination marketing : sustainable tourism management tool?

Abstract

Destination marketing is a tool that is closely associated with developing a destination by attracting tourists and investment to it. This tool may be considered as an enemy of sustainability as the ones that make use of it may be focused on the economic growth while excluding the importance of available resources and the effect that this has on the social standpoint. Sustainable tourism and the sustainable development goals, set out by the United Nations in 2015, are greatly increasing in reputation and may be utilized to equip the destination with a competitive advantage over similar-sized destinations. This research project sets out to explore the current destination marketing trends, sustainable tourism policies and the SDGs that are available in the literature and analysing them through the perspective of the local industry-led aviation stakeholders. Through this qualitative approach that consists of a purposeful sampling, focus group participants and interviewees are engaged in the study which is proposing the feasibility of a sustainable marketing framework that may be used to encourage a more sustainable tourism process. The findings suggest that as tourism in Malta is greatly dependent on air travel, one must ensure that the local industry-led aviation stakeholders draw up clear policies outlining acceptable practices while continuously encouraging the use of low-emission aircraft. The destination marketing plan should be targeted to the high-quality tourist that it sets out to attract to Malta and thus should depict Malta’s destination brand and the tourist product to ensure authenticity. As the industry has been hard-hit like no other due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local industry-leading aviation stakeholders have an opportunity to reconsider the marketing approaches to Malta’s growth to possibly work towards a more sustainable industry through a sustainable marketing framework.